Door closer



- March 1955 F. M. NEWELL 7 2,703,907

noon CLOSER Filed Jul 19, 1954 IN VENTOR.

fkmvx M. A/swELL United States PatentO DOOR CLOSER Application July 19,1954, Serial No. 444,070

2 Claims. (CI. 16-66) This invention relates to door closers, and moreparticularly to those of the spring and pneumatic check type.

A well-known type of door closer, usually used for screen doors,includes a barrel in which there is a plunger and a coil spring. Thespring causes the door to close, but slamming is prevented by anadjustable valve for the opening through which air escapes from thebarrel as the plunger moves towards the valve. For satisfactory checkingof such a closer, the spring should be under a predetermined amount ofcompression at all times. This means that when the closer is installedthe spring should be under the desired compression with the door closed.To acquaint the installer with the amount of compression that should beon the spring when he mounts the door closer in position, at least onemanufacturer places a mark on the plunger rod just inside the barrel.The instruction sheet that accompanies the closer tells the installer topull out the plunger rod until the mark on it is just visible at the endof the barrel, and to then install the closer with the rod in thatposition. In spite of such simple instructions, it has been found thatthey often are not followed. Either the instructions are ignored, or theplunger rod is pulled out too far. In either case the door closer doesnot check properly.

It is among the objects of this invention to provide a door closer ofthe type just described, in which the coil spring is placed under thedesired compression by the manufacturer so that the installer is notrequired to do anything about the spring when he attaches the closer toa door.

In accordance with this invention, the door closer has a barrel with aplunger in it near its front end. A plunger rod is slidably mounted inthe rear end of the barrel and is secured to the plunger. The outer endof the plunger rod extends away from the barrel and is provided with astop. A coil spring encircles the rod inside the barrel between theplunger and the rear end of the barrel. There is a laterally removablespacing member on the rod between the stop and the barrel. The ends ofthis member engage the stop and barrel to hold the spring under apredetermined amount of compression until the door closer has beeninstalled. The spacing member then is discarded.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary view of my door closer attached to a door frameand ready to be attached to the door; 7

Fig. 2 is an enlarged vertical section taken on the line II-II of Fig.1; and

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary plan view showing the spacing member and outerend of the plunger rod as seen from above.

Referring to the drawings, the barrel of the door closer is formed froma cylinder 1 having substantially hemispherical caps 2 and 3 screwedonto its opposite ends. Inside of the cylinder there is a plunger 4which is mounted on the front or inner end of a rod 5 that extends backthrough the barrel and out through a central opening in its rear cap 3.The rod extends some distance back beyond the barrel and has its outerend flattened at 6 in order to extend into the fork of a bracket 7 thatis connected to the side of the door frame 8 by screws 9. The bracketfork and fiat end of the plunger rod are provided with aligned holes,through which a bolt 10 extends that serves as a pivot. Inside of thebarrel a long coil spring 11 encircles the plunger rod. and. extendsfrom the plunger to the rear cap 3, against which it bears.

The front cap 2 is provided with the usual adjustable valve screw 13that controls the escape of air from the barrel in front of the plungeras the front cap and plunger move toward each other. Also projectingfrom the front cap is an integral lug 14 that extends intothe fork of asmall bracket 15 that is adapted to be connected to the door 16 byscrews (notv shown) extending through holes 17 in the bracket. The lugand bracket are pivotally connected together by a pin 18 extendingvertically through them and held in place by a cotter key 19.

When such a door closer is in use, the coil spring will be compressedwhen the door is swung open because the barrel will be moved forward onthe plunger rod. When the door is released, the expanding spring willswing the door closed, but the closing speed is determined by the rateat which air can escape from the front end of the barrel through thevalve. To have the closer operate properly, the spring should be undercompression even when the door is closed. This means that the springmust be under a predetermined amount of compression during installationof the door closer.

It is a feature of this invention that the person who installs this doorcloser does not need to be concerned with holding the spring compressedwhile he is fastening the closer into place, because the manufacturerhas placed the spring under precompression. This is done by means of aspacing member 21 on the outer end portion of the plunger rod behind thebarrel. This member engages the rear end of the barrel and a suitablestop on the outer end of the rod. Preferably, the stop is the usualhold-open washer 22 that is loosely mounted on the rod and that normallyengages its flat perforated end 6, as shown in Fig. 3. When a flatwasher is used, as shown in the drawings, it is canted on the rod whenin hold-open position by means of a projection 23 on the rear cap.

The spacing member most suitably is a U-shaped or channel-like clipwhich straddles the plunger rod. The clip loosely engages the rod sothat the coil spring can cause washer 22 to press the opposite end ofthe clip against the rear cap 3. The length of the clip thereforedetermines the extent of compression of the spring, and the pressure ofthe hold-open washer and the rear end of the barrel against the oppositeends of the spacer holds it in place during shipment, handling andinstallation of the door closer. The length of the spacer is chosen forholding the coil spring under the desired pre determined compression.

Bracket 7 is mounted on the door frame first, and then the outer end ofthe plunger rod, with spacer 21 in place, is pivotally connected to thatbracket by bolt 10. When bracket 15 supported by the front end of thebarrel is swung back against the door, holes 17 in the bracket will bein the correct position for attachment of the bracket to the door. Thebarrel does not have to be pulled forward on the plunger rod to compressthe spring, because spacer 21 is compressing the spring the correctamount. After the door closer has been installed in this manner, thedoor is swung open a little and the spacer will fall away from theplunger rod or can be removed laterally from it. Since there is nofurther use for the spacer, it can be discarded.

This invention insures that the door closer will be installed with thecorrect amount of spring pre-compression for proper checking.

According to the provisions of the patent statutes, I have explained theprinciple of my invention and have illustrated and described what I nowconsider to represent its best embodiment. However, I desire to have itunderstood that, within the scope of the appended claims, the inventionmay be practiced otherwise than as specifically illustrated anddescribed.

I claim:

1. The combination with a door closer having a barrel, a plunger thereinnear the front end of the barrel, a plunger rod slidably mounted in therear end of the barrel and secured to the plunger, the rod extendingrearwardly away from the barrel and having a stop near its outer end,and a coil spring encircling the rod inside the barrel between theplunger and the rear end of the barrel, of a laterally removable U-shapespacing member straddling the rod between the stop and barrel and infrictional engagement therewith to hold said spring under apredetermined amount of compression until the door closer has beeninstalled.

2. The combination with a door closer having a barrel, a plunger thereinnear the front end of the barrel, :1 plunger rod slidably mounted in therear end of the barrel and secured to the plunger, the rod extendingrearwardly away from the barrel, a hold-open washer loosely mounted onthe rod near its outer end, said outer end being provided with anenlargement limiting outward movement of the washer, and a coil springencircling the rod inside the barrel between the plunger and the rearend of the barrel, of a laterally removable spacing memher on the rodbetween the washer and barrel and in engagement therewith, the length ofthe spacing member being such as to hold the washer away from the barrelfar enough to place the coil spring under a predetermined amlouit ofcompression until the door closer has been insta e References Cited inthe file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

